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Chris Senn Footage Feast

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The San Francisco Hillbombs clip with Transworld dropped earlier this week got us stoked for a number of reasons – not least of which was a timely reminder of the downright gnarliness of Chris Senn in his prime. Probably one of the most low key recipients of a Thrasher SOTY award, Senn’s rabid dog push and high speed all terrain approach sometimes seems glossed over in the annals of skate history so here’s the majority of his output from over the years to remind you of why he’s up there with the best of them…“I didn’t care about the tricks I was doing, I just wanted to do them as fast as I could.”

Powell Peralta – Eight (1991)

Pretty much all of Senn’s early output came courtesy of Powell Peralta, starting with their classic video ‘Eight’. Slightly pre-pressure flip era and kinked handrails, Frankie Hill style mute grabs down gaps and one foot japans are the order of the day.

Powell Peralta – Celebratory Tropical Fish (1991)

Chris’ second section for Powell within a year of joining the team. You could cut out all the tricks and skatepark footage from this one and we’d still be stoked on seeing him pushing down the street; as it is, its an early street skating classic…

Powell Peralta – Hot Batch (1992)

Undoubtedly the most ‘big pants small wheels’ of Senn’s sections, Hot Batch sees him experimenting with a few pressure flip variations but the need for speed can’t be held in check for long. The contest slam at 3:31 needs at least a couple of rewinds as well, incredible.

Channel One – Intermission (1994)

Just over two minutes of full tilt charging at any terrain set in front of him…

Thrasher – Feats (1994)

Trends within skating come and go, but using The Offspring on a video soundtrack will never seem crap…oh wait…

Despite questionable music and editing decisions (split screen should have probably been given a blanket ban after the unwatchable intro to Plan B’s Virtual Reality), this section is packed with high speed gnarliness, SF hills, China Banks bangers and one of the best frontside flip disasters ever committed to film.

Emerica – Yellow (1997)

A brief appearance in ‘High Five‘ worth noting for his ridiculous 540 attempt is Senn’s only footage from Etnies before Sole Tech formed Emerica and moved him and a number of others across. Their first video ‘Yellow’ had a truly heavy line up and Chris Senn skating to Black Flag’s Ron Reyes-era version of ‘Depression’ is one of its high points.

Toy Machine – Jump Off a Building (1998)

Hillbombs and Jim’s Ramp – if this one doesn’t make you want to go out and skate, you’re watching it wrong…

TSA Clothing – Life in the Fast Lane (1997)

With a very different vibe from the previous couple of sections, TSA Clothing’s ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ sees Senn hit a variety of skatepark demos and miniramp sessions, even flexing his vert legs at the end. In the same manner as Cards and Speyer, Senn can even make a session on a three foot high miniramp look gnarly.

Emerica – This Is Skateboarding (2003)

Aside from ‘Jump Off a Building’, this is probably Chris Senn’s best-remembered part as he steps things up a notch on the all terrain attack front; from backyard pools to kinked handrails to rubble strewn ditches, it all gets hit with speed and power to spare.

Thrasher – SOTY (2003)

Thrasher’s SOTY recap video from way back in 2003 reminds us of why Senn was the 1995 Skater of the Year via a selection of street and park flowing. The Burnside transfer at 2:37 is particularly savage…

Oakley – Our Life (2006)

The most recent Chris Senn footage, apart from the Senn Family section which kicks in at 10:30 in the Blood Wizard video. Despite a filming and editing style which could be described as akin to visual lobotomization, the Oakley video did have some killer skating in it and Chris Senn definitely made it much more watchable than it would otherwise have been…

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